The King of Limbs: Radiohead Is Charging This Time—Is It Worth It?

I divested about 75 percent of my emotions concerning Radiohead about a decade ago. It wasn’t because I was a rockist and Johnny Greenwood stopped playing those stonking power chords (although I missed them). It wasn’t because Thom Yorke’s voice was any less gorgeous (although he did indulge in a penchant for occasionally burying it under various appliances). It was simply because I got very tired of watching other people listen to the band’s post-Kid A (really post-O.K. Computer, if I’m honest) releases and nod like they were really “getting it.” Radiohead became a kind of shortcut to rock depth, the way placing a few New Yorkers on your coffee table is a shortcut to, well, lit depth. For a few dollars (or for free, if you took them up on their offer to download 2007’s In Rainbows for as much or as little as you felt like paying), anyone could pretend to have great taste. And I wasn’t even sure it was so great anymore. Was there anything that wowed you on In Rainbows? “House of Cards” was sexy, but it really could have been a Dave Matthews Band song, couldn’t it? But it was, of course, another “masterpiece.” So it’s with a little bit of baggage that I wait for my zip of The King of Limbs to download. The fact that it’s named after a 1,000-year-old tree is promising; very British, that. Very Nick Drake. They even posed in their new promotional photos looking very Wicker Man.

“Bloom.” Sadly, not a Nirvana cover. But retro (or retro-futurist) in that it’s another broken pizza parlor Galaga game soundtrack, a la “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors” off Amnesiac. How do people listen to this without drugs? It’s 10:35 a.m. at the time of this writing and I want drugs, a bottle of Smart Water, and a glow stick.

“Morning Mr. Magpie.” A nice, percolating 80s groove. Like an old Survivor song, or Saga. Remember Saga? They were Canadian, I think. The mind craves a man in red jeans and a headband. It gets Thom Yorke but adapts quickly. This is a highlight already. I just looked up Saga. They were from Ontario and they were on the loose.

“Little By Little.” The first acoustic instrument I think I hear. Did they make this on a laptop? The Wicker Man photos = deceiving. Another nice groove that will probably really do something a dozen or so listens in.

“Feral.” They must have made this on a laptop. Or an iPad. But iPad albums are not supposed to take three years. Damon Albarn made one while standing in line at Sainsbury’s didn’t he?

“Lotus Flower.” Another highlight. Strong melody. Excellent drum echo. Like Phil Selway playing in the sewers of Paris in the future. Great Thom vocal. Like Philly soul in the future. Best track so far. (Watch the video here.)

“Codex.” Real piano. It’s like running into someone you know and trust at a rave. “Oh, Piano! What a freak scene, right? Let’s beat it go get some pancakes.” Weirdly Britpop. (Radiohead have all but buried their crucial role in that movement, haven’t they?) Like Oasis doing an Exile on Main Street tribute in the future. But slowly.

“Give Up The Ghost.” Another good one. Like Beck when he’s folky and un-ironic and you remember he’s talented. Same producer (Nigel Godrich), so I’m not surprised. I am surprised this is getting to me. Putting about 10 percent of my emotions back into the band. Well done.

“Separator.” Funky and good. Like Boz Scaggs’s “Lowdown” in the future.

Overall: Well worth the $9 download and will get several plays on headphones during Manhattan errand runs. But if I hear someone raving about it in line at the movie theater, I might just have to pull aMarshall McLuhan from Annie Hall: “Oh, really? Well, I happen to have the members of Can here.”

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